Reality
by icylemonsquash
Summary: "So I continued swaying with her, bolstered by the prospects of a budding friendship, or perhaps even something more."
1. Reality

_**AN: HI I'M BACK! I just coughed this up, I think I like it, but I'm not sure if it makes sense. ANYWAY, tell me what you folks think. I'm sending this up on its own, I haven't had anyone look over it, so please do point out any errors! It's going to be a rather small multi-chapter!  
**_

_**Here ya go. Hope you guys like it!**_

_**xxxicls**_

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"_Image is so different to reality" - The Kooks, Rosie._

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She didn't look like much.

Frizzy ginger hair, tucked into a messy braid slung over her right shoulder, which also happened to be hung down by the strap of her large, almost overflowing haversack. She had short stubby nails on her fingers - so unlike her cousin Dominique's long, manicured, burgundy death-claws - that almost always held one book or another. Large horn-rimmed glasses hid her bright blue eyes, and freckles donned the majority of her face.

I watched her from where I sat, as she approached the Gryffindor table, greeted by enthusiastic waves.

This was when she would change.

Her face lit up on the sight of her best friends and family, a beam so bright spreading across her face it seemed to illuminate everyone around her. She dropped her haversack with a sigh of relief, rubbing a permanent sore spot on her shoulder. She would laugh at something someone had said, throwing her head back and slapping the nearest person on the back.

This was when she became real, not just a shadow studying in a deserted corner of the library or taking notes furiously in class.

I glanced at my own pale hands, easily big enough to engulf the cup of black tea in my hands that had turned cold. Looking at her, sitting across the hall from me, it hit me that she, despite being the most "invisible" Weasley at Hogwarts – what with her being the shyest of her cousins, never dating, and not being involved in quidditch at all – was far more real than I was, sitting here, alone, despite my impressive repertoire for being a ladies man, and the three quidditch cups I had on my belt.

I had nothing – no one, more precisely – to ground me to reality, not like she did, anyway.

Image was incredibly far off from reality, I decided. She didn't look like much, but she was so much more than I was.

I put away the cup of cold tea and made my way out of the hall, not forgetting to catch Rose Weasley's eye as I left, as I always did.

Still, we never spoke. I was nothing but a shadowy image in the back of her mind, despite what others saw.

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_**AN: Don't forget to review!**_


	2. Unaware

_AN: So I upped the rating and added another chapter!_

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"_**I don't want you to go out looking so good,**_

_**And you look so good."**_

_**-Rosie, The Kooks.  
**_

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"Come on, Malfoy!" Zabini called, and I watched him slip through the open portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room, much to the Fat Lady's displeasure.

"_Filthy slytherins!"_

"Yeah, Malfoy!" Chang called from behind me, shoving me in the shoulder and following Zabini through the portrait hole.

I watched my friends disappear through the portrait hole and a small part of me wondered if I would see Rose at the party.

Then I pushed the thought aside. Rose never came to parties. I should stop thinking about it, and just get drunk. My lips curved into a smile and I ducked into the common room, winking at the Fat Lady.

The party was in full swing

The dull thud of the beat that could be heard outside the common room that magnified ten-fold, and now I heard the pulsing beats of the Weird Sister's comeback album through the stereo. Only fifth-years and above were at the party; no doubt the Gryffindors had cast silencing charms on their younger house-mate's dorms.

I smiled at the familiar scene. I would miss these parties, especially when after graduating this year.

Chang appeared next to me, thrusting a plastic glass filled with firewhiskey in my face.

I noticed that his light-coloured asian cheeks already had a pinkish tinge to it. That man always knew _exactly _where the alcohol was.

I took it, and looked around the room, keenly observing the fifth-years fall over one another – undoubtedly the aftereffects of the liquor they had consumed.

"Gotta give it to the Gryffindors, mate," Chang said, "they know how to party." He toasted the room at large with his near-empty cup of firewhiskey.

I grunted in agreement.

I continued to scan the room, looking out for something potentially interesting.

When my heart – I wasn't actually sure I had one of them, until just now – stopped and jumped into my throat, I was pretty sure I found something.

Chang elbowed me obnoxiously. "What're you looking at, man-"

Before I could avert my eyes, he realised what – or rather, who – I was looking at.

"Is that… Is that the Weasley girl?"

"Rose Weasley," I corrected quietly, and realised that her name sounded rather… foreign on my tongue.

"Yeah, that's one! Bloody hell, she cleans up good, doesn't she?"

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance, even though I wanted to wipe the smirk of his face with my fist.

"Yeah," a sleek voice agreed from behind me, and I recognised Zabini's dark hand slinging around my shoulder. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but Weasley's got a little something going on,"

Chang raised his brows, watching her hungrily. "Sort of a naughty librarian thing, eh?"

Zabini snorted, saying "I wouldn't go as far as saying 'naughty', but she's got potential doesn't she, Malfoy?"

I downed my drink, shook his hand off my shoulder, and stalked away from my 'friends'.

Rat bastards.

I sat down on one of the chairs in the common room, refilled my drink, and then looked at her, trying to rationalize my anger.

I got nothing.

Deciding it was pointless, what with the deafening roar of music and the alcohol that was slowly but surely making its way through my bloodstream, I watched her.

She stood awkwardly next to the table laden with food, tugging on a curl and forcing a smile as her younger – and far more outgoing – cousin Lily tried to introduce her to people. She was wearing a dress, and her hair looked much tamer than usual.

I just stared.

I watched the movement of her lithe arms as she restlessly played with the hem of her dress, her fingers tweaking the light material of the skirt, which ended just above her knees. My eyes followed the long length of her legs, which were also dusted with freckles, ending at her feet, which were encased in small ballet flats, and were also twitching restlessly, as if she would rather be anywhere than here.

I then looked up her frame, my eyes pausing momentarily at her waist, which was very well defined by her simple dress, and also far smaller than I had anticipated. I continued up her body, and felt a faint flush creep up my neck as my eyes lingered at her chest, which, I felt, was the perfect size. Zabini would obviously disagree.

Annoyed at the heat around my neck, I focused on her face – I mean, it wasn't the first time I've looked at breasts, and these were _fully covered, _for fuck's sake. Her large glasses covered her eyes, as usual, but they seemed brighter than usual; maybe her cousin had gotten her to apply make up, using that odd pencil thing that girls liked to draw around their eyes. Her hair was tamer than usual, and her curly ginger hair cascaded down her shoulders and stopped slightly after her shoulder.

All in all, she was even more beautiful than usual.

I observed as her cousin turned around at her and threw her hands up in the air, clearly exasperated. Rose sighed, muttering something and running her hand through her hair.

Lily shook her head vehemently, and pointed to the ground, as if saying '_You're not going anywhere, young lady!_'

Rose shook her head and said something else, her hand swinging wildly as she gesticulated.

Lily huffed, and pointed out to the crowd. I was rather sure she said the words 'HAVE FUN, OR DIE TRYING.'

Sighing, Rose muttered something else, slinking into the crowd, and closer to me.

I warily watched Zabini and Chang, who were chattering about excitedly, watching someone. I followed their gaze, and realised they were looking at her.

Fuck no.

I was not going to let get their slimy git paws on her.

Downing my third glass and setting it on the table, I stood up quickly, making my way over to her, not even sure what I was going to do. I reached her quite quickly, and she was looking around in confusion, apparently unsure of what she should be doing at a party. She scrunched up her nose in distaste as she watched a pair of 6th year ravenclaws, both drunk out their wits.

She was completely unaware of my presence, which I couldn't say was much of a surprise.

"_**Dance with me**_," I said.

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_AN: The next chapter will be up by friday/saturday, before I leave for London! **Don't forget to review** and** leave your thoughts**! Did you like it better as a oneshot, or do you feel like expanding it was the better choice?_

_xxxicls  
_


	3. Incentive

**AN: I have to leave for the airport in an hour, so here's a parting gift! : This _may or may not _be the last chapter, but I hope you like it anyways.**

**xxxicls**

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She looked up at me, eyes wide. "What?"

I'd never truly appreciated how beautiful her eyes were upclose, I decided.

They were the same colour as the sky on a summer's day, shining with intelligence and curiosity, and at the moment, shock.

"Dance with me," I repeated, realising that these were the first – and probably the last, judging by her reaction – words I had spoken to her in these seven years.

"Why?" she asked, looking confused that I was speaking to her.

"I'd be doing you a favour."

She drew away from me, her lips parting and her eyes narrowing in outrage, completely misunderstanding my meaning. She drew her hands up, palms facing me as she took a step back. "Look, Malfoy, I don't know what's gotten into you-"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I nodded to Chang and Zabini, who were still eying her hungrily.

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

"Yeah," I said, turning back to look at her.

"Aren't they your friends?"

"And that's why I know what kind of bullshit they're capable of."

"And I know exactly what kind of bullshit you're capable of," she retorted quietly.

Ouch.

"Look, Weasley, will you just dance with me?"

"For what?"

"Because they'll be over here in a minute, demanding I introduce you to them. After which, you'll be subjected to making small talk with them, laced with extremely embarrassing subvert innuendo, which would undoubtedly make you extremely uncomfortable."

She laughed, and I decided I liked the sound very much.

Then out of the corner of her eye, she spied Chang and Zabini walking over to us.

Eyes flashing with panic, she grabbed my wrist, and pulled me into the throng of people.

Once we were safely enclosed by the throng of people, she looked over at me uneasily, twiddling the end of the skirt of her dress.

"Never liked them," she muttered under her breath.

I laughed at that.

"Why are you talking to me?" she asked frankly, and her honesty made my admiration for her multiply tenfold. Despite her rather hostile words, she reached up and knotted her hands behind my neck.

I thought about that as I placed my hands on her waist, trying to ignore the increasing pace of my heart. I started swaying, and she followed me.

"Incentive, I suppose."

She looked up at me thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"If you give it more time, I'm sure you will."

"How do I know you're not pulling your bullshit on me?" she asked, and though her voice was calm and gentle, I saw the apprehension in her eyes.

"Because I know, for a fact, that you're far too smart to fall for it. I also don't want to pull any stunts with you."

"Why is that?"

"Give it more time," I repeated, looking over her head at the crowd. What had I actually meant was 'give _me _more time'.

She remained silent for a while, and it seemed that she rather enjoying swaying with me. I rather enjoyed swaying with her, as a matter of fact.

"Was the dress and the makeup your incentive?" she asked after a while, and I could hear the slight hesitation in her voice. Her eyes were guarded, unlike before.

"In a way."

A muscle in her jaw twitched.

"But probably not in the way you think."

This was strange. I never conversed with people often – sure I flirted with girls, spoke to guys, but I never really _talked _to them – but this was my first time even speaking to Rose, and we were having a conversation, a _real _conversation.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Do share."

I laughed. "You see, Chang and Zabini were only interested in speaking to you because you were all dressed up- "

"Don't you know how to charm a lady," she muttered.

I ignored this and continued speaking.

"-and their interest in you gave me a reason to speak to you," I concluded. "So I suppose, in a way, it was the pretty dress."

She was starting to smile now, and asked, "Why would their interest in me spur you to speak to me?" Her eyes twinkled behind her glasses.

"Bloody Sherlock Holmes, aren't you?"

She raised her brows and pulled back, looking surprised. "Muggle literature?"

I shrugged.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Give it more time," I repeated, smiling at her.

"Maybe I will," she acquiesced, and I continued swaying with her, bolstered by the prospects of a budding friendship, or perhaps even something more.

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**AN: Don't forget to review!**


	4. Promise

_**AN: And here is the final (and longest, YAY!) installation of my first, if unexpected, Scorose mulitchapter! I hope you like it! It has a slightly different format, but I hope that makes it more interesting.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**xxxicls**_

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It had been three months since Rose Weasley and I became friends. They were easily the best three months of my life in Hogwarts. Studying in the library, butterbeers at three broomsticks, late nights in the kitchens, all spent in a haze of conversations and laughter.

I grew to know her rather well, and recognised more than several of her habits.

_Twisting a lock of hair._

_Tugging the end of her braid._

_Tucking her bangs behind her ear._

_Yanking on a curl._

_Chewing lightly on the end of her braid._

_Twirling a free section of her hair._

_Her hair is her coping mechanism._

"_**So**_," I concluded, "Not all Slytherins are sadistic and bloodthirsty. Usually it's the height of their ambition and determination that tends them toward such extremes." I put a large piece of my brownie into my mouth.

Rose nodded, accepting my point.

"Also, as long as we're on this topic, I would like to point out that not all Gryffindors are uppity show-offs. They just tend to be prouder than others."

I laughed and shrugged. "Whatever you say, Weasley," I said. Then I paused. "However, they do throw awesome parties," I conceded.

Rose chuckled. "I think you can credit that to my cousins. You should have seen the party James, Fred and Roxanne threw before they graduated last year."

"_You _were at a party?" I questioned, disbelievingly.

"You first spoke to me at a party, Scorpius," she deadpanned.

"That was because you needed saving from my disgusting friends."

She scowled at me for good measure. "I was not a damsel that needed saving, Scorpius. You were just doing me a favour."

I rolled my eyes.

She laughed – I still enjoyed the sound immensely.

"That reminds me," she began, looking up from her bowl of butterscotch ice cream.

"Yeah?" I asked, setting my fork down next to my plate of delicious, oozing, chocolate brownies.

"You still haven't told me what the whole 'incentive' thing was about."

I laughed. "Do you **really **want to know?"

She smiled at me, pushing up her spectacles as her eyes twinkled. "I **really** do."

"It might not be what you want to hear."

"I don't really care."

I paused. "Promise it won't change things between us."

The corner of her mouth perked upwards as she gingerly placed her spoon on the table. "I promise."

I continued looking at her, meeting her challenging gaze, and then decided against it. "Nope," I decided. "I'm not telling you."

"Come on, Scorpius," she complained.

I shook my head resolutely.

"You know I won't stop bugging you until you give me an answer," she informed me.

I sighed unhappily. "Remind me why we're friends again?"

"Aww c'mon, Scorpius. You know you love me."

If she only knew how right she was. But then I pushed the thought from my mind.

"Well, it... it was because thought you were interesting," I said.

She let out a short burst of laughter, like she had trouble believing it, and I scowled at her.

"Listen to me," I insisted.

She sighed and but then looked at me attentively.

_When she's listening, she twists her hair between her fingers. She bites her bottom lip, and her brows rise ever so slightly as her eyes grow wider – you can see she's trying to concentrate._

"You were so different from… from, well, me. From **everyone**. I was intrigued. But I never said anything to you about it, because you were Rose Weasley, and I'm Scorpius Fucking Malfoy. You were so alive, so real, when you were with your family, when you were happy, and I guess that drew me to you."

She just watched me speak.

"So I guess I felt this completely irrational urge to 'protect' you from Chang and Zabini during that party. I don't know if any of that makes sense," I said, and then paused. "Probably just weirded you out will all that information though," I added as an afterthought.

She shook her head, looking rather faraway.

_When she's thinking, she tugs on the end of her braid. Her brows furrow and she scrunches up her nose. She begins to chew on her bottom lip._

"You made a promise," I reminded her, feeling rather nervous.

She turned to look at me. "Make the same promise with me," she requested.

"Huh?"

"Whatever happens during this conversation, whatever we say, let's promise it doesn't change things between us."

I nodded slowly, but interjected, "Things don't usually work that way, though."

"Just make the promise!" she snapped.

"Merlin, relax!" I said quickly. "I promise."

_When she's embarrassed, her cheeks begin to colour slowly and she runs her fingers through her hair and tucks her bangs behind her ear. She looks down and looks up again, and you can see she's terribly uncertain._

"Scorpius?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yeah?" I answered, afraid of what she was going to ask.

"This is a stupid question, but...did you ever like me? I mean before-" she blushed and looked down quickly.

There was one issue though – whether to answer honestly or not.

"I didn't know enough to properly like you then... I admired you. But I supposed I could have liked you, if I knew you well enough."

"You know me now," she noted.

I nodded. "I do."

_When she's stressed, she undoes whatever confines her hair is held in and shakes it out. She then runs a hand through the curls and yanks on them, as if willing more blood to rush to her brain, to help her solve the problem she's facing._

She then scowled at me. "You're not going to make this easy for me are you?"

I chuckled. "To be perfectly honest, I'm sort of making this up as we go along. I never thought we'd be having this conversation today."

"Were you **ever **planning on having this conversation with me?" she asked, squinting at me distastefully.

"To be perfectly honest, I never really thought about it," I answered. "I mean, I never thought you'd ask me. I never actually considered anything further than hoping you'd forget the whole '_incentive' _thing. It was a stupid thing for me to say, really."

She laughed lightly, and was silent for a while, beginning to playing with her hair. I waited for her to speak, the conversation seeming very surreal to me.

_When she's nervous, she separates a lock of hair from its main body and places it between her lips, unwittingly beginning to chew on it lightly. I don't tell her when she begins to do this – she hates this particular habit of hers, although I find it endearing._

"So do you?" she asked finally.

"Do I what?" I responded, tilting my head to the side, watching her.

She groaned, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what those idiots are blubbering about, Scorpius. You're as charming as a flobberworm."

I winked at her, and grin when I see a blush work up her cheeks. "I just never feel the need to try with you."

"Way to charm a woman," she deadpanned, but laughed despite herself. "Answer my question though," she demanded.

"What question?" I asked, purposefully teasing her.

"Merlin, Scorpius," she groaned exasperatedly.

I grinned, biting back a laugh.

This entire conversation was a risk – a horrible, terrible thing if it went badly, but something amazing if it went right.

Question was, should I take the risk?

"Do you like me, Scorpius?"

That shocked me out of my thought-monologue; seemed like she just took the risk for me.

"I don't know how to answer that," I told her.

"It's a yes or no question," she said, and she had lifted a lock of hair and brought it up to cover her lips. Then she added quickly, "There's no right or wrong answer, though."

I sighed. I guess we always had the promise as a back-up plan.

"Yes," I finally said, and my voice sounded very strange and choky. Malfoys weren't supposed to speak like this. I briefly wondered how my stone-father won my mother over.

_When she's satisfied, she twirls a lock between her fingers, smiling ever so slightly as she realises she has solved her problem._

She leaned over the table that separated us, elbows resting on its wooden surface, tilting her head to the side. My heart abruptly increased its pace.

"I might have to break that promise, Malfoy."

"Which promise?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"The promise that things wouldn't change between us."

"Why?"

She looked down, suddenly nervous. "When two people like each other," she said softly, "that should be enough, right?"

"Right," I agreed, waiting for her to look up.

When she didn't, a sudden daring seized me and I reached out toward her and tilted her chin up with my index finger.

"So do you?" I asked, echoing her earlier question.

"Do I what?" she said playfully, following the thread of our earlier conversation.

That was answer enough.

_Now it's my fingers in her hair._

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___**Don't forget to review if you liked it! That's the only way other people will know if it's any good! :)**_


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